Smooth Operator
by kkann
Summary: The 10 times Ahsoka almost caught them, and the one time she pretty much did.
1. The First Time She Almost Did

**A/N:** I find this really exciting: one of my first _Star Wars_ fanfictions. :D  
Like I said in my other one, I'm still new to this, so we'll see how this goes. This one spawned off the curiousity of just _how_ Padmé and Anakin were able to keep everything all hush-hush and not have anyone have any idea that they were actually married. Granted, Obi-Wan doesn't seem to oblivious, but I digress.  
I was also wondering what Ahsoka would think if she suddenly got the inkling that there was just something a little more going on between the two. That's where this came from.  
Takes place during the _Clone Wars_ series, as you can probably tell.

* * *

I.

_The first time_ is the most awkward of them all, considering the brief bits of conversation she overheard, never mind the fact that eavesdropping itself was one of her less promising qualities.

The fact that Ahsoka was eavesdropping on her master wasn't even the worst part—it was what she _heard._

"Padmé?" He began, safe enough save for the fact that he shouldn't be so informal with the Senator.

So Ahsoka was about to knock on the door when he spoke again.

"Have you seen my pants?"

At that point the Padawan's not sure what to think, one hand poised to push the door open and the other against her mouth at Anakin's words. His _pants_?

'And why in the galaxy would the _Senator_ know where they were'? is one of the more important questions.

"I did, but I don't see them at the moment, Ani."

_Ani?_ Ahsoka mouthed to herself, glancing at the sealed door that was currently the only thing separating her from the two having a fairly odd conversation. She tried to suck in her breath quickly, fairly certain that Anakin ought to have sensed her standing there by now.

Of course, she wasn't too aware that he had more pressing matters on his hand at the moment—namely his _wife_ standing before him wearing _his _tunic (even if she was swiftly removing it to put on one of her own outfits, mind you), though only he was privy to that information.

"I need my pants, Padmé."

"I don't know where they are, Anakin."

"But you saw them last."

"Yes I _saw_ them, but that was _last night_." Ahsoka then slapped her hand against her mouth again to keep the fact that she was choking on her spit from being audible. Now, Ahsoka Tano was no fool, mind you, she knew that there were certain things that happened between two adults, thank you very much. But that knowledge didn't bring any comfort to the idea that her _master_ had perhaps gotten a bit . . ._involved_. Especially considering he was a _Jedi_ and the woman he most likely spent the night with was a _Senator_.

Never mind how Jedi were supposed to practically live a life of solitude—why was she even standing here listening to this exchange anyhow?

"Am I going to have to sneak back in and steal them from you?"

_Sneak back in? _Ahsoka frowned, glancing around the corridor, checking to see if anyone was witness to her infringement on privacy.

Ah well, listening to this conversation was much more interesting that watching Rex and Cody arm wrestle for the umpteenth time because of a lack of anything better to do. Mace Windu had yet to contact them with their next move so consider it a not-being-paid vacation, if you will.

"You're going to have to bit a more stealthy if you don't want to get caught, Ani." What that, Padmé's voice brought Ahsoka's attention back to something she shouldn't even have been listening to in the first place.

"Are you saying I'm not stealthy?" Anakin responded with a hurt tone, though his hidden Padawan could hear the smile in his tone. And he still hadn't noticed her _how?_

"Or subtle."

She could hear Anakin scoff at the woman's remark. The Senator's response was muffled by the scuffle of feet and the rustle of fabric.

Now Ahsoka knew she _definitely_ shouldn't be listening, burying her face in her hands. _Force give me strength._

"I can be subtle." Padmé hummed back at him as he said this. "_Very_ subtle." He chuckled and Ahsoka wasn't sure what he's doing when the woman he's with makes a brief and strange squeaking sound. Ahsoka wasn't sure she even _wanted_ to know.

Thinking that enough's_ enough_ she curled her hand into a fist to knock on the door and stop whatever's going on when they start talking again.

"You can be a lot of things, Ani. Subtle isn't one of them." The man in question let his breath out through his teeth.

"What about getting you off the _Malevolence_? Or that trip to Naboo?" He paused for a moment, and Ahsoka could almost sense him leaning over the woman. "The other night for instance?"

Padmé made a 'hmph' sound.

"So two out of three's not bad, I can take that."

Padmé hummed again.

"I can give you one of those, maybe. If you disregard the fact that you almost fell off the side of a building. And the _Malevolence? _I hardly consider getting shot at 'subtle,' Ani."

"But you'll give me Naboo." He said, the smirk in his voice obvious. Ahsoka shuffled quietly, debating leaving and staying to hear the rest of the conversation, biting her lip.

"Barely!" The Senator exclaimed, and her sudden footsteps echoed beneath the sealed door as the still strangely unseen Padawan held her breath. Another rustling of fabric was heard; straps and buckles clinking together. "There's a reason why you're missing your pants, Anakin."

Fully convinced that by now she _really_ shouldn't listening Ahsoka finally turned to leave and return to the bridge when her face ran smack into the chest armor of Obi-Wan.

"Master Kenobi!" His name and title came out in a shocked breath, the Padawan suddenly remembering that the only reason she'd even come down this corridor was to find Anakin and tell him that his former master was looking for him. "I was just…looking… for him." She muttered, hanging her head slightly.

"I'm sure," He responded in that voice of his, one eyebrow arched as he stared down at the sheepish female, keeping his voice down a tad. "Do you happen to know why Anakin is missing his pants, by any chance?"

Unable to form a coherent reason as to why she'd neglected to bring Skywalker back in a prompt manner, she could only mutter, "How much did you hear?"

"Only that last bit." He whispered back, his eyes flickering to the sealed door. "Hasn't he sensed you yet?"

"I was wondering the same thing. . ." She mumbled at the same time a low growl seemed to resonate from the room, her hand leaping to her hip, mirroring Obi-Wan's itching for his lightsaber.

"Give me my pants Padmé, I _know_ you have them." Kenobi and Tano exchanged a look. A few clones started marching down their corridor, pausing in step to address to two standing off to the side exchanging a perturbed glance. The trio's stride halted abruptly as they also overhear a statement only one person was really supposed to hear.

"I would have your pants Anakin, but it's a bit difficult to find anything in this mess."

"It's not a mess! I know exactly where everything is!" The Jedi shot back indignantly, obviously flustered at the woman marching around his chamber. One of the clones removed his helmet, leaning in to speak to the bearded general.

"What is—"

"Shh!" Ahsoka hushed the soldier with a wave of her hand, turning her attention back to the unseen Anakin and Padmé.

"There's a layer of dust on _everything_." Padmé said almost incredulously, small pieces of metal clanking together as she shifted something.

"And you know perfectly well _why_." Anakin stated under his breath, leaving Obi-Wan to frown.

"Be that as it may, it's no excuse for you to go throw things around because you can't take the time to actually clean up after yourself." The Jedi heaved a sigh, and the groan of a mattress became audible to the five people outside his chamber who shouldn't even have been standing there in the first place.

"I _do _clean." He muttered, earning a muted scoff and eye-roll from his former master. "I _am_ clean! I shower! I'm not covered in dirt!" He paused for a moment. "Well, not _all _the time at least. What more do you want from me?"

More fabric was moved around and there was a quiet cry of victory from the woman who was in a room she really shouldn't have been in. "I want you to put your pants on." Anakin's smart retort was cut off when she continued. "Considering the fact that I just found them. They're mostly dry now—put them on."

"Mostly dry?" One of the clones whispered to himself, earning an exasperated look from Ahsoka even though she really wasn't one to talk.

The mattress groaned again and at that sound of movement Obi-Wan decided that it was about time that he brought an end to this act and swiftly punched the consol next to the door, bringing it to open itself and expose whatever the hell was going on.

And it served to expose a shirt-less Anakin Skywalker wrapped in a towel with Padmé Amidala standing next to him holding out what one could quickly assume to be a pair of pants.

A moment of silence passed as the two turned and took in their muted audience.

"Oh come _on_," Anakin was the first to break it, snatching his clothing away from his secret wife without looking at her, trying to find something to hide behind so that he could dress. A few beads of water made their way down his face and throat from his soaked scalp as Padmé tried to offer a pacifying smile despite the pink creeping up her neck.

"Yes well, you couldn't leave well enough alone when I told you not to go near the beast."

"It's not my fault," the Jedi grumbled, giving up on looking for a hiding place and trying to level his gaze with his old master and new Padawan, shifting under their stare. "It came at me. It was either getting myself impaled or diving into a creek, so. . ."

He trailed off, wincing at the uncertain narrowing of Obi-Wan's eyes. "Now, if you could all stop looking at me like that. . ."

Even Ashoka couldn't bit back a grin at the story of how Anakin had found himself being flung into a lake, actually, on Naboo because he thought it would be funny to screw with the wildlife for lack of anything better to do.

At least, it explained why he was still practically soaked, anyhow.

Of course, had anyone but Ahsoka (and Obi-Wan, as usual) been paying any attention, perhaps they might have noticed to small reddened marks that adorned the necks of both Padmé and Anakin.

* * *

**A/N:** That's the first time she almost caught them. Some of the others I suppose you could say are almost a bit more. . .romantic? And some may or may not be just as awkward as this one was. :)

Why didn't Anakin sense them there? He was a bit. . ._preoccupied_. Had more important matters on hand at the time.  
At least, that's my excuse.


	2. The Second Time She Almost Did

**A/N:** Where did I get the idea for this one? Don't ask questions. But no seriously, I'm not too sure. I just wanted to add in Jar Jar somewhere. Speaking of which, I cannot write in Jar Jar Binks' dialect. I think that much is obvious.

* * *

II.

_The second time _it's because Jar Jar Binks asks if they're married yet.

As a result everyone else immediately stopped what they were doing in order to stare at the representative and the two in question because Force forbid the Gungan think to ask them in private. The Admiral turned to study them with a bemused look while Obi-Wan tried not to look too perplexed.

Oh if only Ashoka had a way to document this moment. The looks on their faces were beyond priceless.

The fact that neither of them knew what to say was just an added bonus.

"Me-sa was jus' wondrin'." Jar Jar offered in his defense, raising his hands in a near shrug, his eyestalks bobbing in his rather oblivious nature for the time being.

"Oh, well…" Padmé began, making up for her actual husband's inability to speak at the moment. She continued to speak in a gentle manner, trying not to wince at the growing look of disappointment on his face. "No, we're not, Jar Jar."

By that point Anakin felt that it should all be left well enough alone because he's got a pretty good idea of what Jar Jar's about to say next. And of course, the Gungan has yet to learn to hold his tongue.

"But Ani said—"

"No." Was the first coherent thing Anakin had managed to say in the past few moments, aiming a steely blue-eyed gaze that clearly stated 'shut up and forever hold your peace _or else. _Please.'

Ashoka was still amused by the fact that his nickname is 'Ani,' though she won't say anything because she knew it was given to him from his late mother.

Still.

"But you-sa—"

"I know-sa—" Anakin paused, clearing his throat and obviously trying to ignore everyone else in the room because sheesh apparently these guys have nothing better to do than listen to this, despite the fact that they still had a few planets to liberate. And they still had lunch to attend to. "I _know_ what I said once. But that doesn't…"

He took another breath, and Ashoka figured she might as well add in her two cents due to sheer curiosity and urge to poke at her master whenever the opportunity arose.

"Well, I for one, am curious. Why not just tell us?" She smirked, earning a _look_ from her said master.

"Snips." He ground out.

"Skyguy." She shot back. Realizing that Anakin's attention was temporarily otherwise, Jar Jar took it as an opportunity to finish what he'd been trying to say earlier.

So Padmé flushed and tried not to look too embarrassed. The same could not be said for Anakin.

"But you-sa you was gonna marry Padmé!"

"I was—!" The Jedi stammered, beyond flustered. Off to the side, Obi-Wan rolled his eyes with a smirk at the memory of that moment many years ago, though deep down still a bit bothered by the nagging feeling that Anakin had actually followed through with his age-old promise. "You can't be serious!" He continued, his head whirling back and forth to take in the range of responses coming from everyone else in the general vicinity—some snickering, others immediately thinking of the Jedi Code. "I was _nine!_"

Even the Admiral couldn't hold back his chuckle at that confession. Ashoka's shoulders were shaking so violently one could wonder if she was laughing or spasming.

"You proposed when you were _nine_?" Ashoka asked through her giggles, receiving another heated glare.

"T-That's not my point!" He sputtered indignantly.

"Then what was, dare I ask?" Obi-Wan interjected, getting absolutely no response from his former Padawan.

Jar Jar smirked, for the most part completely oblivious to the obvious discomfort he'd caused Skywalker and Amidala. The former more so than the latter.

"Okay so I when I was nine I told Pad—Senator Amidala that I thought we should get married. I was a kid! You can't honestly think I was serious!" His waving hand gestures were almost asking for sympathy. Padmé took a moment to try and smooth things over, perhaps to both silence the few still going chuckles and smooth her actual husband's frayed nerves.

"What he means, Jar Jar," She began in a placating manner, addressing both the Gungan and everyone still listening in on the matter. "Is that maybe that would have been an option…before," She hesitated while she thought of what to say without completely blowing everything or embarrassing Anakin further. "However, now Anakin is a Jedi, and I'm a Senator. Marrying one another wouldn't work considering everything." Padmé shrugged dismissively. "Besides, we were friends. And he can't cook."

Working off the tangent Padmé had just created, Anakin figured he might as well add in a joke of his own to help, muttering under his breath and gesturing to himself with a wave of his hand. "She couldn't handle all of this."

Ashoka scoffed.

Jar Jar tried not to look too disappointed at the knowledge that the two hadn't wed.

"But you-sa woulda had great babies!"

Obi-Wan coughed, murmuring more to himself than anyone else. "Just imagine Anakin reproducing, oh dear Force."

"Moving on." Anakin cut in, grinding his teeth. "Admiral, you were saying."

"I wasn't," The man said, shaking his head. "It was you who was giving us the debriefing, General."

Said general blinked. Padmé gave him a quick jab in the arm with her elbow.

"I…Right." He glanced down at the blank hologram and then up again at his audience. Ashoka stood with her arms folded, studying him carefully, noticing something—obviously—completely off with her master.

_What?_ He mouthed to her, almost flinging the word at her. She shook her head, her glance moving upward to the ceiling with a furrowed orange brow.

"Okie," Jar Jar said, now fully conscious of the situation he'd caused and taking it upon himself to now smooth over everything. "Well, me-sa still thinks married would be good." He gave them two thumbs up, glancing at Padmé who was being strangely quiet at the moment before she spoke up.

"Ah…Thank you, Jar Jar." She responded with almost a question, glancing at Anakin out of the corner of her eye. The Gungan smiled hugely.

Aware that the joke was over, what clones were in the room turned back to what they were doing, many still snickering at the prospect of their General at nine years old and proposing marriage to a former queen.

And while everyone else's attention was back on whatever they were previously doing, Ahsoka was close enough to see Anakin nonchalantly lean in to Padmé so that their foreheads momentarily brushed against one another before he whispered something. With a raised eyebrow and peaked curiosity the Padawan then heard the Senator whisper back,

"…you too, and I'm sorry but you really can't cook, Ani."

* * *

**A/N: **I'd like to think it's almost sort of clear what Padmé said 'you too.' :D  
I also must admit that this was another one of those things that sound like a good idea until you have to write it out.


	3. The Third Time She Almost Did

**A/N: **This one's longer, I hope you don't mind. It's slightly rushed, and practically disorganized. It's also seemingly random and it's like reading something while half-asleep after a monkey has poked you in the back of the head. Repeatedly.  
…So I'm just gonna tell you that I totally meant to do it that way.

* * *

III.

_The third time _Ahsoka's half-asleep so she's not really sure if it counts or not.

But that night started out like any other – if one could even call it 'night' in the realms of infinite real space—with the Padawan going over the days' events for the umpteenth time while struggling to find something remotely even close to sleep.

Then again, it's also not even night there's rustling on the bunk below where Padmé's chosen to station herself for the night as a result of her yacht being nothing more than scrap upon the _Malevolence _that probably doesn't exist anymore.

There's also usually not a low manly chuckle coming from the bunk below, either.

Aware of past attempts on the Senator's life, Ahsoka took it upon herself to save the day. Remaining eerily quiet for her typical self, she scooted herself toward the edge of her bunk, if only to peer over the side to assess the situation.

Leave it to her arm to slip on the blanket she'd wadded up and sent it tumbling down to the other woman's temporary bed. She froze then, her arm dangling in the crevice between her bed and the wall. Everything around her grew silent before there was another rustle and fingertips brushed against her hand. Burying her face in her pillow she tried to pass if off as some unconscious movement of hers.

"Ahsoka?" Withholding a groan, she hardly shifted at the sound of Padmé's voice. There was a beat and then she moved to glance over the side in all of her bleary-eyed wonder. "Are you alright?"

The older woman smiled at her gently, one hand out-stretched and offering the Jedi-in-training's misplaced blanket. "This yours?"

Ahsoka blinked at her, rubbing the heel of her palm into her eye for emphasis as she slowly nodded.

"Yeah," She mumbled, reaching for the cloth. "Thanks."

Padmé gave her another soft grin, though her brow creased momentarily. "Can't sleep?"

Ahsoka shrugged, though all the other woman saw of that was the bob her head as a result. "Not really. I'm kind of dreading whatever Master Skywalker's going to have me do tomorrow."

"I'm sure whatever it is, it won't be so bad. You can handle just about anything from what I've seen."

Ahsoka muttered a half-hearted reply that was lost into the fibers of her pillow, breathing in a bit if lint through her nostrils as a result. Shoving her head against her nose to keep from sneezing she screwed her face up into a grimace, wanting to draw no more attention to herself than was necessary, especially considering the fact that she was fairly certain that there was more than one person on the bunk below her, despite how she'd only barely poked her head over the side so she really couldn't be sure.

Never mind how this room here was _supposed_ to be designated for women.

Or how Ahsoka was pretty much considered 'one of the guys' and no one had planned on Padmé being there in the first place, so just about everyone passed right through like no one's business.

She was too tired. This required too much thought.

"Stop it," A voice hissed from below, causing Ahsoka to stiffen because this was supposed to be the few hours she got to rest darn it, so why couldn't trouble wait until after breakfast? Her concern for the Senator's well-being however was quickly calmed by the giggle that accompanied the next "Stop!"

If she wasn't curious now, then what was she?

Then she found herself eavesdropping again, giving her the inkling that maybe there was a certain someone accompanying the woman below.

"_Ani._" Oh dang, they were so busted now.

Shifting her pillow and wadding it beneath her chin to keep her hearing from being impeded by the worn and lint-coated fabric she tried to bit back her smug grin. Glancing down at her thin cot her smile faltered for a moment before it lit back up at what she saw.

Leave it to the fates for there to be a small hole that _just so happened to be there._

_Jackpot._

Squinting and trying to give off the impression of being asleep, the Padawan flattened herself against her make shift bed with one eye squeezed shut and squinted through a few fibers to find herself essentially spying on the Senator, even though she could hardly see anything.

Neither of the two obviously felt the need to say much, _almost_ giving off the impression of two old friends simply lying next to each other. The way their hands appeared to be more or less intertwined wasn't doing much to help their case, if Ahsoka did say so herself.

Below, Padmé shifted slightly, moving just a bit so that Anakin placed his chin on her crown lightly, smirking at no one in particular at the action.

Ahsoka wasn't sure if she should frown at what the Jedi was doing or smile and be in near awe like something deep in her wanted to.

Whatever Anakin murmured to (his wife) Padmé was lost on the lethargic Padawan, leaving her to frown, which was quickly swallowed up by a yawn.

An audible yawn.

The murmurings below stopped, and her heart beat just a bit faster for fear of being caught. Holding her breath she mentally counted out the next few moments, hoping that the man with selective hearing would simply pass it off as so unconscious sound.

But of course not.

"Snips?" He whispered.

And then promptly cursed. Having Rex nearly catch him somewhere he wasn't supposed to be was one thing, but practically openly admitting it to his Padawan was something else entirely.

With an inward groan, Ahsoka figured she might as well add in a bit more drama, considering the fact that she was probably going to get an earful for snooping. Playing up the 'but I'm oh-so _tired_' card, she rolled onto her side, just enough to be sure it was noticeable.

"Hmm?" She hummed, not completely feigning her drowsiness. She rolled again, just so that this time her head appeared over the other side of the cot, bringing her face-to-face with Anakin's suddenly bashful expression. She blinked at him tiredly, almost enjoying the way his eyebrow twitched just slightly. She breathed, "Oh hi."

There was a pause before he responded, and it was during that pause that Ahsoka noticed the general lack of Padmé next to him, though she did her best to hide her disappointed frown.

"…Hi." He studied her expression for a moment, his eyes squinting just slightly. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to sleep, what's it look like." She mumbled back without question, toying with the faded corner of her sole blanket absently and blatantly being sure to ignore the pointedly studious look he was giving her, as if he were trying to decipher what was going on in her head. (At the moment, she didn't even know, to tell you the truth.)

"…Right." He responded with a slow nod, as if having expected some other response. The corner of his lip inched downward briefly. "Well, get some sleep Snips. You're gonna need it for tomorrow."

"Yay," Ahsoka hummed with mock enthusiasm as they each rolled back into their initial respective positions.

With a shrug and general air of 'whatever,' Ahsoka gave her pillow a swift punch before welcoming the sleep that had been eluding her for the past few hours.

Alright, so maybe Padmé Amidala really hadn't been lying on the bunk below. Maybe in her sleep-induced trance she'd only visualized her there. (Or maybe now she was just confusing herself.) Obviously Anakin Skywalker was not Padmé, so therefore obviously Padmé was most definitely _not_ sleeping on _that_ bunk. Being a Senator, she was probably stationed in some other room despite the fact that she'd said she was perfectly fine sharing a room with Ahsoka because _come on why not_.

However none of that explained why Ahsoka had awoken the next morning to find Anakin gone and Padmé on a bunk on the other side of the room wrapped in _his_ cloak.

* * *

**A/N:** Just in case (because I probably wasn't) it wasn't too clear, Padmé and Anakin were in fact sharing the _same_ bunk (Padmé just so happened to shift before Ahsoka started talking to Anakin), and a half-asleep Ahsoka wasn't too sure if she actually saw them both together due to her drowsiness. And dude, she was totally spying on them even though she wasn't too sure she was.  
…Yeah, let's go with that. The next one will be a lot easier to understand. (But it'll probably include his cloak again. ;D)


	4. The Fourth Time She Almost Did

**A/N:** Oh oi, this should have been up sooner.  
I really want to thank you guys for all the positive feedback and support you've been giving me. I really appreciate it and I'm really glad you guys have all liked the story so far. (But I really wanna say thank you to a miss _Fishy-Icon_ who really helped me with the idea. You guys ought to check her out.)  
But this is late.  
Hopefully the length of this one with make up for some of that. Maybe.

-This site would also not let me update this story or even edit my other _Star Wars _one for a while. Just these two. I ended up having the e-mail the support here. I'm confused. A bit concerned, but mostly confused. **Edit:** Oh sweet mother of Gandhi, you have no idea how happy I am right now because this story is working again. This chapter has been done since Saturday. Today is Thursday. xD Onward!

* * *

IV.

_The fourth time_ Anakin's only slightly (very) tipsy.

He claimed it was of no fault of his own, thumping around the room with the feet that he suddenly claimed were a bit too heavy so _sheesh guys what did you do to me?_

Of course, had he been asked what happened, hopefully he would have worked up some sort of reply rather than the gibberish he was spouting because obviously no one felt the need to shut him up—one of them undoubtedly being Ahsoka. Because hey, when you're at war you'll take humor anyway you can get it.

Even if, you know, it's one of your main generals that's found himself plastered in more ways than one. (Someone peel his face away from the wall, if you wouldn't mind?)

In all honesty it was a bit too difficult _not_ to laugh, especially judging from that fact that Anakin had come up with a new nickname for Obi-Wan (Obi. It was more amusing to hear him say it than the think about it.), while also making sure that everyone in the general vicinity knew that it was all Master Kenobi's fault. It always was.

"_I _never made you drink it," the elder muttered, grasping the younger man by the shoulders and ripping him away from the cold wall, ungracefully dumping him in a nearby seat. "I highly doubt blaming _me _for you lacking any sort of self-control is going to get you anywhere at all." Obi-Wan ducked to extract himself from under the flesh arm that had decided _hey, let me hug you, Obi!_ "Need I remind you that I also specifically told you _not_ to drink it?"

Anakin gave him some rather exaggeratedly doleful eyes.

Ahsoka snickered at the expression, as did most everyone else in the room. (Either one of the ARC Troopers had no sense of humor or his helmet was on backwards. Turns out it was the latter, strangely.) She was also quick to fill in the Senator making her muted entrance on the entire ordeal, not exactly taking the time to really question why the woman was there in the first place. And not that she really cared, and perhaps it was just the Togruta, but Padmé seemed to be a bit too comfortable with Skywalker. Ahsoka wouldn't be the first to ask, of course. (And Obi-Wan himself seemed rather suspicious of the whole thing, but he had his hands full with trying to get Anakin to let go of him at the moment.)

"Obieeeeeee," Anakin drawled, his head ducking down briefly before he found the ability to hold it upright. "Come onnnn."

"_Anakin_," Obi-Wan sighed rather exasperatedly, shaking his head while trying to suppress a grin. He placed his hands on his former Padawan's shoulder guards and more or less shoved himself against the wall behind him to keep him upright.

"Yessss," He responded with a sniff as his former master attempted to get him seated properly. His head swung around to grin at the bearded man. "You called?"

Withholding whatever retorted he'd wanted to say Obi-Wan obviously found the intoxicated young man to be a hopeless cause for the moment, turning away to address his other—and much less tipsy—comrades. Skywalker must have been insulted by this motion, if judging from the way he then flung himself as Kenobi's feet was any hint.

Obi-Wan's obvious frown was lost on the younger man, who then continued on a tirade of sorts as he recounted their (mis)adventures while trying—and for the most part failing—to successfully operate under cover in the underbelly of Corucsant in an attempt to track yet another of the would-be-assassins attempting the Nubian Senator's life.

In fact, things had been going quite well until Anakin had accepted a spiked drink that he'd been offered, if only to save face. Of course, Obi-Wan had told him multiple times to _not_ drink it. On the plus side however, Anakin was acting a lot happier than he had been for the past few days.

Now swaying on his feet as a response to the Jedi Master's exasperated "Oh get _up,_" the former boy from Tatooine gave an animated and toothy grin as he took in a moment to fully appreciate the sheer madness he was sure he was about to cause.

And then he saw Padmé. And Ahsoka. And Padmé and Ahsoka. And then promptly wondered why they had clones that suddenly merged into one being.

Stumbling forward, he took it upon himself to fill in the Senator and Padawan on the current situation.

"So we almost got the guy, but then Obi-Wan let him get away because it was all Obi-Wan's fault." He concluded, his focus more or less zoning in and out while he took the fairly muted response as his opportunity to more or less ogle the Senator. In all honesty, no one else really seemed to notice. Rex himself was too busy getting a bucket for the General just in case.

It wasn't that Padmé was fully immune to Anakin's come-ons, it was just that when he tipsy—as he was now—they came across as much creepier than they should have. The slurred words were only an added bonus. Take right now for instance.

"What?" Ahsoka chuckled as she leaned forward, having only understand very few of the words her Master has said. He swallowed and took a breath before he repeated he'd said to a couple of curious expressions.

...and then promptly got slapped in the face by his wife who was very red in the face because certain things should be kept private, thank you very much.

"Excuse me?" She stuttered, obviously flustered. Obi-Wan's gaping fish-look almost perfectly mirrored Ahsoka's previously smirking expression.

"I said—" Anakin began again, only to interrupt himself and wheel on Kenobi. "Why did you let me say _that?_" The Jedi Master frowned at him.

"Oh I give up." He huffed and turned away muttering to himself, "Why do I even bother?"

"Because I mean a lot to you?" The former Padawan called after him, choosing to remain rooted to the spot for fear of falling over again or perhaps getting slapped. When he failed to get a rise out of the Jedi he shrugged nonchalantly and took the time to glance around him before settling his gaze back on the only two females that actually meant anything to him personally. "All right then. I think I got rejected. I'm gonna sit down."

As a result he took a few cautious steps forward and guided himself fairly unsteadily to one of the tables randomly placed throughout the room (he never had bothered to figure out where he was) and seated himself as best he could without bothering to move the chair whatsoever.

Ahsoka tried not to look too amused when he missed said chair and flopped onto the floor.

Temporarily disregarded his earlier off-color comment (he may have meant well, but there were some things that others shouldn't hear) Padmé took it upon herself to try to peel the man off the metallic floor; Rex and one his men where a step ahead of her of course, hooking their hands under his armpits.

"Wait," Anakin drawled, leading to a momentarily pause from both of the clones. He flung his head backwards and cracked his neck, staring at his wife upside down for the time being. "Hey there." His attempt at a flirtatious wink failed miserably and made it look like his eye was twitching horribly.

"Hi," She responded after a pause, the two men propping up the inebriated man exchanging looks as they debated dropping him right there.

"So," The Jedi Knight continued, apparently oblivious to his current circumstances and the fact that his eyesight couldn't focus for the life of him. "How _you _doin'?"

Rather than play along and offer some similar remark as she would have had they been home, Padmé played her own part well with a fairly blank mask and concerned look.

"I…I'm all right," She crouched down just a bit so that she was mostly eye-level with him. "Though I suppose I can't say the same for you, can I?"

"I'm 'right." He responded with a grin before his attention was elsewhere—mainly downward. Err, make that upward for him because his head was still not quite right-side up and downward due to his gaze being south of Padmé's head. "Nice boots."

The woman flushed and barely withheld the urge to cross her arms over her chest while Obi-Wan abruptly choked on the un-drugged glass he'd been drinking from. Thankfully, Padmé Amidala hadn't been the only one to misinterpret what the drunk Anakin had said for a moment until he decided to clarify when his wife again said "Excuse me?"

"_Boots_." He repeated as if speaking to a young child. "I like them. Are they new?" As she shook her head and opened her mouth to speak he carried on as if they were the only ones in the room. Never mind the men still holding him up. "I can get you new ones. No, no wait. I can _make _you new ones. With my _face!_"

There was temporary silence and Ahsoka resisted the urge to smack her forehead with her palm.

"No thank you," The Senator murmured, attempting to ignore the mental image her husband had just given her. "That's quite all right."

With that, she went to stand, only to have Anakin Skywalker shoot out of the soldier's grips and grasp her face in between his hands. Rex and the other 501st member both went down in muted shock, their armor thumping on the floor as Obi-Wan and Ahsoka made their way toward the couple—the latter more leisurely than the former. This was amusing; Obi-Wan may not have approved, but this sure beat out having to go find a baby Huttlet or taking on an army of tinnies unarmed any day.

"Anakin," The older woman breathed, letting her formalities slip for a moment, the fact that Anakin's face was quite a bit closer than it should have been in public clouding her better judgment. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You've got really pretty eyes." He whispered, part of the normal Anakin Skywalker slipping through the drunken haze. "As such, I'm going to reward you with five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact."

Stuck kneeling over him with her face in his hands, she could only frown at him as he lay prone—and still upside down in her eyes—on the ground before her. She tried not to wrinkle her nose too much at the odor practically rolling off of him. "You're drunk."

"I'm only slightly intoxicated. There _is_ a difference." He replied with a grin, still staring dead at her.

Part of her really didn't want to admit it, but this was making her way more uncomfortable that it should have been, and it wasn't even because they were in front of everyone else; something in his eyes had hardened into that stubborn determination she had grown used to and it became increasingly obvious to her what he planned to do.

"Oh no," She hummed to herself as he began to pull a certain part of her closer to him, namely her lips.

Obi-Wan had practically ripped the former Padawan away from the Senator while Padmé also did the honors herself, trying not to press a hand to her nose for the sake of Anakin's currently fluctuating emotions. Ahsoka knelt beside the Senator to offer her a hand up and bit her lip at the woman's next comment.

"Please, brush your teeth. You smell like a rancor just died inside your mouth." She stood, offering a small wave of gratitude to her husband's bemused Padawan.

"Aw, you never let me have any fun," Anakin mumbled dejectedly as his former Master forced him to stand, offering the bearded man a miserably frown but still facing the wrong way. Swiveling to the woman he obviously still wasn't done with yet Skywalker puffed out his chest and gave a smug retort to her. "Well, at least it died with some dignity."

"How does that…" Ahsoka began, and then swiftly decided something things were better left unsaid. "Forget I asked. I have to agree with Senator Amidala though, Skyguy. Your breath _reeks_."

Anakin tried to grin but failed as her comment sunk in.

"Owwww," He ground out as Obi-Wan hooked his elbows beneath Anakin's armpits because enough was enough blast it, so maybe now he could just sit down quietly and let the alcohol and whatever it was in the boy's system wear itself out because he'd spent the entire twenty minute ride back from that bar they'd been sent to listening to Anakin drone on about _everything_. And even though it probably wasn't legal or ethical, Obi-Wan Kenobi had barely supressed the urge to backhand the young Jedi if only to shut him up. The fact that he'd emptied his stomach on the floor of a borrowed speeder hadn't helped matters any.

"Now _sit._" Only on a few occasions had Ahsoka, or anyone else for that matter, heard Obi-Wan use what they dubbed the 'Stern Obi-Wan Voice' (which really was no better than 'The Look'), but it seemed to be quite the popular tactic when it came to dealing with Anakin.

The man in question grinned and politely reached out and quietly dragged the chair out, seating himself with measured calmness. Kenobi obviously wasn't buying into it. The Chosen One turned and smirked in a rather childish manner.

"If you say so." The grin grew a bit.

"I do say so." The Council member responded, calmly folding his arms before him. Disciplining Anakin had never been an overly daunting task, but the word 'difficult' did come to mind time to time. Obviously, the boy had never truly grown out of his problems with authority. Their earlier/current situation was sheer proof of that. ("Anakin, you shouldn't drink that." "Master, relax. You said we have to make it realistic, so I'm going to make it realistic." "I have a bad feeling about this." "Don't say that; when you say that it comes true." "I only say it because I know these things." "No you don't, you just say you do." "Anakin, I am not having this conversation with you." "You started it!" "Anakin, that has to be one of the least mature things you've said all night." "No, I'm serious! You _did!_")

"I know so." Ahsoka could have counted the number of teeth in Anakin's mouth with a smile like that.

"I'm not doing this with you," Obi-Wan sighed with exasperation and quickly walked away, giving Padmé and Ahsoka the time to take it upon themselves to keep a watchful eye over the 'only slightly intoxicated' Anakin.

Who at the time was shoving his face into the tabletop because something in him had finally snapped and decided it was nap time.

Seating herself across from him, his Padawan timidly poked him in the head just the make sure he wasn't dead because you never know.

He grunted, which seemed sufficient enough for her.

Padmé was just sitting down herself when he pulled himself into an almost upright position, leaning into the surface as he glanced around, obviously trying to locate her. When he finally did he gave her a genuine smile, though it faltered as his body finally combated whatever it was that had assaulted his system.

"You're a fool," His wife murmured as she reached over the gently pat his shoulder, her eyes narrowing only subtly. Anakin's smile spread and something else that Ahsoka couldn't quite place flashed through his eyes.

"Yeah, but I'm _your_ fool."

Ahsoka looked away and tried to ignore the knowing smirk that Padmé attempted to hide behind her arm while she propped her forehead in her hand. Obi-Wan again failed to look amused.

* * *

**A/N:** It really did take longer than I would have liked to finally give you guys something, but I'm hoping to have the next update up sooner rather than later.

I know that they were probably a few confusing moments in it, but there were a couple ideas that I had that I really didn't want to throw away, so they all got mushed together, if you can tell.

Tipsy Anakin is tipsy. But still tries to flirt and seduce his wife despite being inebriated and in front of quite a few of his men and his Padawan. Oh, and Obi-Wan. (But it's all Obi-Wan's fault!)


	5. The Fifth Time She Almost Did

**A/N: **The fact that it has taken me more than a month to update this depressed me. D:  
That said, this chapter was initially one I really liked, but as it went on I think it sort of lost some of its flare. I think you can tell at which point I more or less started tossing some words together. XD  
Somewhat Master/Padawan bonding, but not really. Setting is them in the jolly ol' rust bucket about to launch into space into THE UNKNOWN. (or maybe they're just going to get lunch.)  
Maybe I'll like the next chapter more. (and won't take me so long to post!)

* * *

V.

_The fifth time_ Ahsoka's right out with it.

She'd never seen a man caught so off guard, especially judging from the way their rust bucket took an unexpected lurch and nearly sent them tail-spinning into oblivion. As a result she had her nails dug into the unforgiving seat so roughly had it broken beneath her she wouldn't have been all that surprised.

With her eyes screwed shut and she herself braced from the impending impact (if one ever did finally come) she for the most part failed to notice the sudden flush of Anakin's facial features. Her internal organs tied up in knots in the free-fall sensation, they were suddenly jarred back into their original positions when he finally righted their ship.

R2-D2 twittered indignantly as he slammed into the Jedi's seat.

"I know, Artoo, I know, sorry." Anakin offered as he re-set his controls to the droids insistent beeping.

He shot a glance at his Padawan whose heart was still in her throat, but whatever smart comment he'd wanted to shoot at her was abruptly cut off by the statement he replaced it with.

"Do you care to repeat that?"

Ahsoka made it a point to swallow and get her bearings back before responding.

"I asked," She closed her eyes and took a breath, if only to get the stars to stop spinning before she repeated her previous inquiry. "Is there something going on between you and Senator Amidala?"

Anakin made it a point to stare her down.

"What makes you ask that?"

The Togruta shrugged and suddenly felt uncomfortable under his gaze. R2-D2 buzzed somewhere behind them. "It's just that…Well, things just…_change_ when you're around her."

His eyebrow that wasn't scarred twitched, as did the corner of his mouth. "Snips, are you _jealous?_"

Ahsoka ground her back molars and gave her master an indignant look. "_No._" She ground out. "I'm just saying that something about you is completely off whenever she shows up." Momentarily pausing, she shifted in her seat to fully face him as he folded his arms.

"Really." His question came out more as a fairly nervous statement, purely curious as to just what she thought (and _knew_, for that matter) when it came to him and the Senator.

"It's like this: You can be General Anakin Skywalker out on the battlefield, almost completely detached, but whenever Padmé's involved or in some sort of trouble, something in you just _changes_ and you becoming someone completely different. It's like you're not a General anymore, just Anakin and you _have_ to go save her."

Rather than respond, he looked away and stared at the stars, and for a moment he shared a resemblance to Obi-Wan deep in thought. Ahsoka took that moment of silence to slump back in her seat and remind herself to breathe normally.

Shrouded in fairly uncomfortable silence, Ahsoka withheld the urge to twiddle her thumbs if only to ease the tension she'd just caused. Anakin took his time in constructing his response, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, his arms still knit together. One of his legs unconsciously bopped up and down as he studied the floor.

"Ahsoka…" The Padawan in question visibly stiffened—Anakin would typically only neglect using her nickname when he was either upset with her or was about to take a rather serious approach to their conversation. Judging from his weary tone and near vulnerable position, she could safely assume it was most likely the latter.

"The Jedi live by a strict Code," He continued, his voice softening just a bit. "You know that, right?"

Tucking one of her legs beneath her she leaned forward, speaking softly. "Well yeah, they only just pound it into you from Day One."

His lack of response made it suddenly obvious that it had been a rather rhetorical question—he'd been expecting little more than a nod out of his peripheral vision. That said, he bowed his own head further, running a gloved hand through his hair in that typical gesture of his that was usually down whenever he was forced onto the spot.

"True," He mused, the tips of his mechanical fingers digging into his scalp. Anakin cursed lightly under his breath. "I don't even know where I'm going with this anymore."

Ahsoka allowed him a few moments of silence, turning away to study the stars quietly glowing in the distance. Her Master all but radiated distress, and she briefly felt some guilt at having caused it. All the same, it only spiked her curiosity further.

Anakin released a deflated sigh and blindly followed his Padawan's gaze. The latter shifted as to not cut off the circulation of blood to her leg, but also in the weighty silence crushing them.

"Under the Code a Jedi is encouraged to simply live for the Force and the like. But that also includes forgoing any attachments or things that the Order believes could impede not only a Jedi's skill, but their methods."

Ahsoka hadn't been asking for a lecture, though she was sure not to make that known.

He paused again and shook his head. "Mind if I start over?"

Anakin saw her nod mutely out of his peripheral vision and willed the blood to stop pounding in his ears.

"I'll admit there was a time I thought I had feelings for the Senator shortly before the outbreak of the war and being Knighted as a Jedi." He swallowed as Ahsoka's gaze flitted back to him. With his hands now folded he bowed his head in his hunched position, a blush creeping up the back of his neck. "I made it quite clear to her on a few occasions, but was more or less rejected a majority of the time."

Ahsoka's stomach tightened when she realized she was being told something he'd never meant to share with anyone.

"We would have been living a lie, and that was something neither of us was capable of doing. I came to my senses just in time to welcome the beginning of the war and my brief infatuated was deemed a teenage phase I was just going through."

He rubbed his thumbs together absently, feeling a mixture of guilt and nausea for having admitted one of his deeper secrets.

R2 hummed in the pregnant silence, wheeling himself back in forth in a manner that was sure to eventually carve some groves into the floor of the _Twilight._

Ahsoka bit at her lip and folded her arms, studious glaring at the hyper drive button she'd been meant to press a short while ago. She'd been about to apologize for her inquiry when her Master suddenly emitted a gentle keening noise.

Sure he'd been about to start gasping for air, the Togruta's back stiffened, braced for dashing to the nearest emergency medical kit before she had to resort to Plan B: Having a brief panic attack and then wail on Anakin to see if that did any good.

It took a moment before she realized he was actually _laughing._

She opened her mouth to question him on his sudden outburst when his bemused gaze shoot up to her face, beating her to the punch.

"I really need to teach you better lie detecting skills, Snips."

Plan B sounded like a _very _good option right then.

Clenching her small hands into fists the Padawan let an angry sigh pass through her teeth, her narrowed eyes glaring daggers at her amused Master.

His own eyes didn't fully convey amusement, however. Anakin never had been all that good at lying.

"You've got to be _kidding _me!" She hissed in exasperation, to which he replied:

"Well, yes."

"No!" She shot back, frustration building up within her. "That wasn't—!" Closing her eyes Ahsoka took a deep breath as a means of calming herself before she allowed his face the pleasure of meeting with a swift right hook.

"I thought you were being completely serious," She breathed after lowering her blood pressure a few degrees along with her temper. "Why would you lie about something like that? And I believed you too!"

Now it was his turn to look dismayed.

"Ahsoka…" He turned his head to the side, reaching for the hyper drive punch and launching them into real space while he constructed his response. "I'm sorry I played a joke on you, all right? And to be honest I didn't even think it was all that funny—"

"It wasn't." His chagrined Padawan cut in.

"Let me finish," Anakin all but asked, glancing back at Ahsoka. "I will admit that there was a time when I thought I might have felt something for the Senator, but us being who we are, that never would have worked. Think about what happened with Jar Jar." He drummed his fingers against his knee as he went on. "I'll say that I do care about Padmé, yes, but maybe to the same degree that I care about you and Obi-Wan."

Ahsoka withheld the urge to inform Anakin that he was brown-nosing. But why not let him to carry on for a little while longer? Consider it an apology for the moment.

"I need to…" The corner of his mouth pulled down in a partial frown. "Me being me, I take it upon myself to look after the people I'm with and care about. I can't allow myself to screw up; I can't accept a loss like that. Maybe there are times when I let it get the better of me—I'll also admit to that—but I don't think it's been too much of a hindrance."

"I don't deal well with failure. Personally, I have a problem dealing with things out of my control. Just ask Obi-Wan. I tend to let my emotions get in the way, but at the same time I try not to let it affect the ones I care about too much."

This other tangent he was going off on wasn't overly relevant, but Ahsoka was curious to see where he'd take.

"…In short, do I care about Padmé? Yes. Is there anything going on between us?" A smile breached his features again. "Snips, I thought you knew me better than that."

She made sure he had a clear view of her eye roll.

"Yeah well, you are a slow learner, aren't you?"

They both had to laugh at that—even R2-D2 made a few twitters, his dome roving around as his small cylindrical body teetered.

"Maybe you'll teach me." Anakin supplied, reaching for the controls as he brought them out of hyper drive. Ahsoka chuckled again, giving her head a slight shake, her beads whacking against her montrals.

"Maybe, but patience is a virtue." As Anakin squinted through his laugh, Ahsoka's head cocked to the side just slightly, her smile softening a bit. There were a variety of things she would never 'get' about her Master—his sense of humor, for one thing—but in that moment she felt she had a better understanding of the young man with the weight of the galaxy suddenly shoved upon him.

His nerves still had a hold on him she could tell, judging from the way his Adam's apple had been bobbing furiously for the last couple of minutes, and his cheek had a slight twitch to it. He had yet to run his hand through his ha—no wait, there it was: the nervous brushing of fingers through the mop on his head.

There was obvious more to this so-called 'lie' of his, but that could wait for the time-being. Maybe she wouldn't pry so much, or at the very least wait a while for this altercation to blow over.

Then again, he _had_ never fully denied her inquiry.

* * *

**A/N: **There you have it: a near confession and so general confusion! Seems to be a staple of this story: if I don't confuse you at some point, I have failed. Haha.  
Can any of you tell why I don't like this chapter so much? XD  
Hopefully my next won't take so long.

Thanks for putting up with me! :D


	6. The Sixth Time She Almost Did

**A/N: **WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME.  
JIMNEY CHRISTMAS, IT ONLY TOOK ME WHAT, ALMOST FIVE MONTHS TO ACTUALLY UPDATE THIS.  
But! Before we get into this long overdue chapter, please let me touch on a few things as to why it's so late.

Okay! So originally I planned for this story to be humours-which I felt it has been, given the first four chapters. Chapter 5 was sort of the turning point in this story, being the half-way point and all. (Note: There are actually going to be _eleven_ chapters to this. That's where 'And the one time she pretty much did' bit comes in.) Now, I have a feeling that some of the ideas that I came up with in regards to the next few times she almost catches them aren't as humorous as the others. Granted, I don't see how I can really make some of them funny. I can try though, adding in banter and all. That said, this story might end up not being quite as funny as you thought it would be to begin with. Sorry! But I think having some serious moments here might balance it all out.

While I don't really want to see them as excuses, there are a few reasons as to why there was a May-October gap in this story, including but limited to: finals, graduating(!), graduation parties, family trip, packing for college, moving_ in_ to college, starting classes.  
That, and I've also started and been working on another story here that I must say I am quite proud of.  
If any of you want to go check out **_Malum Rêve _**and leave any sort of feedback it would be greatly appreciated! It's got Anidala and drama.

Oh, and go check out _**FishyIcon**_ while you're at it. It might as well be her fault this story exists. :)

That said, let's get past that and you can get to the sixth time Ahsoka almost caught them because now I'm rambling and this darn thing has taken me long enough!

-While reading this, there are a few songs I listened to while imagining the dance bit between Anakin and Padmé, and I figure I might as well share them to help give you the mood I was going for. :)  
_Fairytale_ by Alexander Rybak / _Little Motel_ by Modest Mouse / _Boats and Birds _by Gregory and the Hawk / _Carry _by Tori Amos / & _Dreamer _by Elizaveta

You can pick any of the five you like; they're just the ones I was flipping through while writing this.

* * *

VI.

_The sixth time_ they're at some Senate get-together with Padmé because there's nothing else to do.

One of the benefits that came to hanging around her—not that Ahsoka minded her company; she quite liked the woman—was definitely the food.

Her first introduction to whatever it was she was currently chowing down on had been at Padmé's apartment a few days back, having been greeted at the door by a plate of food that the Nabooan had snagged from the last soiree or gathering or shin-dig or…what did they call these parties?

She'd smiled and encouraged Ahsoka to eat to her little heart's content because Sabé had managed to horde half a dozen other plates elsewhere in the kitchen. The food was had presumably been going to be thrown out after the party anyhow, and the hungry Togruta had appreciated the offering, picking at the bits of hors d'oeuvres she knew Padmé wasn't overly fond of—being around someone for so long made the other's eating habits common knowledge between the two.

The political figure had lapsed into some story as to why she didn't eat a certain sort of snack Ahsoka was gnawing at before trailing off, concluding her story with a light blush, sideways glance at Anakin and an abrupt attempt to change the subject with "Well, go ahead and east as much as you'd like; there's more where that came from."

Ahsoka had resisted the urge to spit out whatever she'd been chewing into her hand, but she'd been too afraid to ask for further details.

She was currently reminding herself to compose herself and stop shoveling food in her mouth when she noticed the senatorial aides staring at her and making comments about her montrals with what she would have hoped were awed more so than troubled expressions. Ahsoka was forcing herself to eat with 'dignity' and be 'ladylike' because they were in public and oh well if Anakin didn't like it then he should have come here alone.

Speaking of the man, where was Anakin anyway? Sitting alone at a table with Obi-Wan was starting to get awkward.

Setting down her utensils and leaning back the Togruta gave the expansive room a slow once-over, hearing her beads click against one another while she grimaced at the notion of having to dress up. Sure, attending some Senator event or whatever this was could have been fun and all, but she was increasingly beginning to feel exposed without the feel of her weapon on her hip.

Ahsoka had quickly realized that Anakin's interpretation of formal robes was much different than hers. Not that she had put on some get up that made her unrecognizable, but at least she had put _effort_ into looking decent. Anakin had just grabbed whatever tunic wasn't stained and shoved it on over his head at the last minute.

If he'd left her there alone, she was going to—

"I see you're having a good time," The man in questioned said as he seated himself back at Ahsoka's side in-between her and Obi-Wan, the latter with a fairly glazed look upon his face as if he wished he was anywhere but where he was right then.

"I thought you'd gotten lost." Ahsoka muttered, resting her elbow on the table top and then placing her palm into her hand before she remembered it wasn't 'proper manners.' She was seriously wondering what was up with Anakin and his sudden desire to make a good impression—usually it was more or less let's-just-wing-it-and-hope-no-one-dies-okay?

"I didn't think my bladder was that important to you." Anakin said, quirking the un-scarred eyebrow and glancing around the room before him.

"Ew," His Padawan made a face and glanced down at the remnants of food still on her plate.

Skywalker nodded curtly. "I miss anything?"

She gave him a blank look, gesturing to a great deal of politicians and aides and caterers and whoever was here because _who_ in the entire galaxy would miss this shebang? Ahsoka had actually forgotten what this thing was supposed to be for anyway. Some Senator's birthday or just some random get together? Was there a good reason for them to all gather in one room outside of their sessions?

"Senator Orn Free Taa almost stole Master Kenobi's plate, Senator Burtoni's still glaring at everyone and those aides are still staring at my head." Ahsoka quickly supplied in a rather droll voice, trying not to let those peering eyes irritate her too much.

"They're probably just jealous of your headtails."Anakin replied, his voice not nearly as sarcastic as it could have very well been.

"Who wouldn't be?" The Padawan muttered under her breath, stabbing at a vegetable on her plate in a rather vicious manner. Choosing to forgo the risk of being stabbed in the arm by a somewhat frustrated Togruta, Skywalker turned to the rather silent man that had once served as his Master and attempted to engage him in conversation.

"Well, Obi-Wan, you've been remarkably quiet." Kenobi's head slowly swiveled toward Anakin, his eyes fairly unfocused as he stared at the younger man. Anakin bit back any snide comment about him being either tired or drunk in the next moment.

"You simply haven't been listening."

"Ouch."

The two quickly launched into some lighthearted conversation—mostly because Obi-Wan didn't seem too thrilled about having to contribute to it from the way his gaze kept flickering away, eventually turning to the woman steadily approaching them.

Padmé sighed, seating herself next to the Togruta girl and smiling at her. In that moment Ahsoka took in how drawn and weary the older woman looked after having been hounded by other Senators all evening.

"How's the food?" She asked, garnering an earnest response from Ahsoka accompanied by a large smile.

"It's really good!" There was a mischievous glint in her eyes before she continued. "You should be asking Skyguy that though—he's the one that's been eating all of it."

At that, said man frowned. "Well excuse me for being hungry, Miss-apparently-I-feel-like-fasting-today-and-I'll-make-you-fast-too. I've only had one plate of food here, need I remind you. I'm a growing young man."

"Saying 'I'm not hungry right now' isn't the same thing as fasting." Ahsoka scoffed. Padmé looked fairly amused at the banter as she glanced to and from each of them; Obi-Wan appeared rather indifferent. "It's not my fault you don't like to eat alone."

Anakin grimaced, trying to keep his eyes away from his wife because he knew if he so much as glanced at her he wouldn't be able to look away. (Had he told her how lovely she looked in that dress? She really should wear blue more often—this dress fit her in just the right way for him and now her sleeve was sliding off her shoulder while she laughed at Ahsoka's remark…Okay, he really should look away now before Obi-Wan said something.)

"_Well excuse me_ for trying to be social." He remarked, derailing his current train of thought to focus on something other than Padmé's dress and also ignoring his Padawan's "_It was two plates, you just dropped one. And the one you didn't has food piled on it._"

The Togruta shrugged rather than grace him with a real response, giving birth to a lull in conversation. The four sat in relative silence save for the hum of chatter and music around them; the two married ones fought to avoid too much eye contact with one another. Padmé gnawed at her lip and failed to hold back her blush when she realized Anakin's gaze was upon her.

"So how's the rest of the Senate treating you?" Let it be known that no one had ever said that Anakin was good with words, let alone starting conversations.

Ahsoka found herself absently watching the people either milling about or dancing when Skywalker's question flopped lifelessly.

"I suppose it's no worse than usual," Senator Amidala shrugged, absently re-adjusting the shoulder of her dress when she noticed her husband glance down to it. His Padawan turned her attention back to the two, if only to immerse herself in some intelligent conversation other than the soliloquy she was giving herself regarding the fact that she wasn't sure if one of the dancing—um, more like_ dying_—figures was male or female. It wasn't like she was going to _ask_ them.

"How so?" Was the response from the man who had taken it upon himself to eat the food still sitting on his plate.

The quirk of Padmé's brow mirrored Ahsoka's at his sudden interest in politics.

"Well," The woman grinned, turning away for a brief moment to thank the caterer that had just set down a plate before her. "I haven't had the urge to beat one of them with a datapad recently, if that's an indication."

"Non-violence in the work place sounds like progress." Anakin said, smirking up at his wife—even though Ahsoka didn't know that so oh yeah, they were just _good friends_—and trying not to look to overjoyed at the fact that he was finally able to see his wife for the first time in a few weeks. The young Togruta female frowned at his looks, but said nothing.

"You'd think so," Padmé smiled, and with that the conversation grew slightly strained until it finally died. Apparently, small talk wasn't something these two were overly fond of, and Ahsoka and Obi-Wan weren't going to be the first to try to add in their two sense. Especially the latter since he looked just about ready to hightail it out of there as soon as someone gave the word.

Silence crept up on them again while Ahsoka slid her fork around her plate, trying not to make that scraping noise because apparently in was rude and all that jazz and if Anakin didn't like it maybe he'd like a fork imbedded in his arm then. It was his fault she was stuck there anyway.

Padmé thusly took it upon herself to cut into their individual reveries with a beaming smile.

"I like this song," She murmured, glancing toward the people now dancing slowed as the tempo changed. Ahsoka withheld the urge to say 'Well that's nice' because Padmé was her friend and that would just be mean. Besides, she had to admit that she liked the song as well.

"Would you care to dance?"

Obi-Wan just about choked on his drink as Anakin stood and walked behind his Padawan to kneel before the Senator.

Ahsoka didn't say anything, a bit too shock by his forwardness to do so.

"What?" If there was a way to describe how Padmé reacted, it would have to have been _she squeaked_. She shot a look over at Master Kenobi who was currently staring at his former apprentice and then at Ahsoka who was more interested in that idea that maybe Skyguy _could_ dance than just what he was trying to imply at the moment.

"I asked if you'd like to dance," He repeated with a smile. On the outside he appeared calm if not a bit too pleased with himself whereas on the inside not only was he chanting _please say 'yes,' please say 'yes' _and hoping that the two watching them wouldn't think too much of it.

Anakin was just about ready to have a heart attack and keel over when she returned his expression and all too eagerly complied before composing herself and giving him a more subtle and not so excited, "Of course."

Ahsoka dropped her utensil onto her plate with an audible _clang_ as Anakin's arm looped around his wife's waist the moment they _apparently_ thought they were hidden in the throng of party goers.

If this troubled Obi-Wan at all, he was too busy keeping a watchful eye in their general direction to say anything.

For the most part their dance passed by without too many issues, especially considering how Ahsoka couldn't really _see_ anything because the number of people slow-dancing had suddenly multiplied. From what she _could_ caught glimpses of, however, it appeared as if Padmé's preferred resting spot for her head on Anakin's shoulder and his hand _really_ liked the small of her back.

It was just because of the crowd, Ahsoka told herself. Yeah, that was definitely it.

"_I really need to teach you better lie detecting skills, Snips."_

Maybe.

No, no, Anakin wouldn't do that. No. He might have been a rebellious fool, but he wouldn't really go so far as to break the code like that, would he?

As she contemplated this, Ahsoka Tano took a few heavy gulps of water to soothe her suddenly dry throat, full of thoughts of this _friendship_ between Padmé and Anakin and just what it all implied.

"Master Kenobi," She coughed out, twisting toward the older man in order to get his opinion on the matter. It was then that she fully took in how ruddy his face looked, his eyes in and out of focus and his hand lightly pressed to his temple—out of exhaustion or whatever he'd been eating taking its toll she didn't know.

Not one to be deterred even if Obi-Wan was a bit tipsy (even if he wouldn't admit it, and he didn't seem keen to), Ahsoka pressed on, if only due to the way the question of just how deep Anakin and Padmé's relationship ran was gnawing at her.

"Senator Amidala and Master Skywalker have known each other for a while, haven't they?" His eyes flitting to meet hers, the man she was questioning nodded slowly. "How long have they known each other, exactly?"

He swallowed and ran a hand down his rather warm face, leaning back in his chair.

"They met roughly…twelve years ago or so." Obi-Wan paused, cleared his throat, and continued. "Granted, neither of them really saw the other for about ten of those years…" He trailed off, pressing his fingers to his temple again, which Ahsoka acted fairly ignorant towards.

"How close would you say they were?" She tilted her head as she spoke and in doing so missed the way Padmé laughed at Anakin as he twirled her around, the mirth drowned by music and the general chatter around them. Ahsoka almost missed to fairly indiscrete that very few noticed—and many of those few were wavering where they stood.

"Er, good friends, I would say." (He couldn't really say _"I would hope_," could he?) Obi-Wan was suddenly staring Ahsoka down and she suddenly felt very small. (It was almost like one of those looks Anakin gave her only when she _really_ screwed up.) "Why do you ask?"

"Well," The girl sighed, adjusting her sleeve as she spoke, her gaze downcast and oblivious to the merriment currently occurring between the Senator and Jedi Knight only mere meters away from where she sat. With their arms tightened fiercely around one another, Anakin slowly began to twirl his wife around in small circle, their eyes locked as they refused to look away from one another. He went in for a quick kiss the moment he was sure no one was looking and Padmé simply smiled in that way of hers just for him.

"It's just that…" She frowned. "I feel like there's something going on that we don't know about, like they're hiding something. Like maybe they're…I don't know, _really_ close or something. Romantic maybe? Pfft, I don't know."

Ahsoka chuckled at herself.

"Wow, sounds kind of petty, doesn't it? Like Anakin and Padmé actually have something going on. He's not that much a fool, is he?"

She glanced up, and the smirk she had on her face quickly faltered.

"Master Kenobi?"

Ahsoka was tempted to reach over to the man and jostle his arm just to make sure he wasn't dead, but thought better of it at the sound that emanated from his throat. Letting out what sounded like a gentle snore, Obi-Wan's chin ducked into his chest.

If Ahsoka had taken a moment to look away and back to the dance floor she might have noticed the _look_ the Skywalker couple was given one another. She also might have noticed that not only did they leave the dance floor together, but were just about to immerse themselves in shadow and leave the grand room if only for a few spare moments of time alone together.

Not for the second time in the past few days, Ahsoka wouldn't be getting the answers she was looking for in regards to how involved Padmé and Anakin were with one another.

"Forget I ever asked."

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah, so...I'm not overly fond of the ending here, but at the same time I don't quite mind it.  
I do want to apologize for this taking me so long, but I hope you'll understand!  
And for those of you still reading this: thank you so much for sticking with me and having faith in me! I don't know where I'd be here with you guys! :D  
I write partly for myself, but for you all as well.  
:)


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